


the precious diamonds rest

by hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes)



Series: Holly's Round Eight H/C Bingo Card [26]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Career Ending Injuries, Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-15
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 12:42:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12366030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiasobi_writes/pseuds/hollyandvice
Summary: In the split second between feeling the ground at his back and then inevitable unconsciousness that he knows will follow, Jack catches sight of the K'thala's exposed underbelly as it moves over him. He feels his years of training take over as he lifts his weapon again, emptying the rest of the clip into the beast's body.As usual, Jack's the one getting injured on this particular jaunt. Unlike the usual, however, he may not be getting out of this one in one piece.





	the precious diamonds rest

The K'thala takes Jack down with one precise swipe to his back, its claws cutting through his tac vest with altogether too much ease. He doesn't scream, knowing that will just slow down the rest of his team's hasty retreat, and he fights to keep himself focused even as the pain threatens to short circuit his brain. He turns to face the beast lifts his P-90, finding the whites of its eyes before he fires a dozen deadly shots into the space between them. The beast shrieks, pausing briefly to claw at its face and Jack thinks he hears Daniel screaming at him, but he has no time to turn and look because the sound gets the K'thala's attention, and it goes on barreling toward Jack's team, knocking him to the ground in the process.

In the split second between feeling the ground at his back and then inevitable unconsciousness that he knows will follow, Jack catches sight of the K'thala's exposed underbelly as it moves over him. He feels his years of training take over as he lifts his weapon again, emptying the rest of the clip into the beast's body. He feels the hot wash of blood splattering over him as the beast shrieks, and for a split second he wonders if he's going to die from being crushed when the beast falls on him or if he's going to die from the blood loss from the wounds in his back.

In the end, it doesn't matter. He's unconscious before either death can take hold.

——

When Jack comes around, he can hear Daniel speaking rapidly in the native's language, his voice sharp and fast and clipped. It has none of the usual ease and care that he associates with Daniel speaking to people from other cultures, and that immediately sets Jack on high alert. He tenses, and in his mind he's already on his feet and standing at Daniel's side. Except then his body protests loudly and angrily to being moved at all, and the thought disappears. He must black out for a moment, because the next thing he sees is Carter hovering over him.

"Take it easy, sir, you're hurt pretty badly."

"Carter. How long was I out?" he asks, feeling more than hearing the hoarseness in his throat.

"A few hours, sir. It took us most of that time to get you back to base camp, and Daniel's been arguing with the natives since then."

"They won't let us back to the gate?"

"No, that's the one thing Daniel actually told us, though the natives made it clear enough when Teal'c and I tried. Daniel hasn't said a word to us since then."

Jack almost tries to move again, but a familiar hand on his shoulder holds him down, and he knows better than to fight Teal'c when he's concerned about Jack's wellbeing. Jack forces himself to relax into the bed he's been laid on, letting his eyes fall shut. The pain isn't as bad as he was expecting, and that almost makes him want to ask whether they'd given him painkillers while he was out, but he holds back the question, waiting and listening to the cadence of Daniel's voice instead.

He hears the agitation in Daniel's tone and it sets his teeth on edge, making it that much harder to stay still, even as he feels himself drifting in and out of wakefulness. As he claws his way closer to full consciousness, he grits his teeth and turns toward Teal'c. "How bad is it?"

The grave look on Teal'c's face makes it clear it's at least as bad as he'd feared.

Jack closes his eyes again, resting back against the bed, waiting for the inevitable sound of Daniel making his way back to them. When it comes, Jack forces himself to turn and look at him.

Daniel's eyes seems bluer than usual, his whole demeanor more intense. Jack gives himself a moment to let that sink in before he acknowledges what it probably means. He lets his eyes focus on Daniel, giving the man all his attention and silently asking him to get the worst over with.

"It's not good," Daniel says, settling down on the bed at Jack's side. "The village healer is refusing to let you go through the gate, and will only let one of the rest of us go back to try to get help. She says it's for our safety."

"Our safety? Does she understand—"

"I've tried to convince her that we have more advanced medicine on our planet that might be able to help you, but she doesn't believe me."

Jack feels his blood go cold. "Help me? With what, exactly?"

Daniel purses his lips. "Other than the scarring, massive amounts of blood loss, and potential punctured lung?" Jack watches the way Daniel's throat works as he swallows. "The best I could get out of them is that if we don't let her treat you, you could turn into one of those things."

"One of what things?" Carter asks.

"The K'thala."

"That monster?" Carter sounds perplexed. "How?"

Daniel shakes his head. "I couldn't get a straight answer out of them. The best I got was something about poison in the claws. Or at least, something like poison. The word seems to have a different connotation, and they kept correcting me when I used their word for poison, but they have the same root, and—"

"Daniel." Daniel falls quiet at the steel in Jack's tone, turning to look at the Colonel. "How long?"

Daniel's throat works again. "About three days, they said."

Jack takes a breath, feeling a pressure in his chest that suggests Daniel isn't entirely wrong about the punctured lung. "Alright. Are they a danger to us?" Daniel shakes his head, and Jack can see the way his mind is going a mile a minute trying to figure out what Jack's thinking. "Good. Teal'c, you head on back to the SGC and let them know what's going on here. Send Fraiser back and have her bring everything she can. If there's a way out of this, she'll be the one to know."

"Sir, you don't actually think—"

"Stranger things have happened, Major," Jack says, forcing himself to smile. No one seems to be buying it. Jack sobers. "Look. I'm not saying I like this any more than the rest of you. But if they're really not going to let us out without a fight—" He turns briefly to Daniel for the confirmation he knows is coming, "—then this is all we have left. Okay, Carter?" Carter's lips go thin, but she nods, relenting. Jack nods in return, turning to face Teal'c. "Okay, T?"

Teal'c gets stoically to his feet, nodding at Jack as well. "I shall send Doctor Fraiser as quickly as possible."

"Wait," Carter says, leaning forward and grabbing something from her pack and handing it to Teal'c. "The blood samples."

Teal'c inclines his head once to Carter before turning back to Jack, as though waiting for dismissal. Jack just nods, and Teal'c glances at Daniel, who gets to his feet and joins Teal'c, presumably to discuss Teal'c's safe passage to the gate and Fraiser's safe passage back.

Jack rests back against the bed, feeling the beginning of the pain from the cuts on his back creeping in at the edges of his attention. He turns to look at Carter, forcing a tight smile onto his face. "Chin up, Major," he says softly. "Fraiser will figure something out."

"Of course, sir."

——

Fraiser doesn't figure something out. She does, however, identify a pathogen in Jack's bloodstream before coming back to the planet, her voice a blaze of fury as she descends on the healers in the village. Jack doesn't get the pleasure of seeing her face when she starts in on them, but he does hear the way Daniel keeps pausing in his translations, probably editing out some of her more colorful language. It takes the constant pressure of Carter's hand on his shoulder to keep from trying to get to his feet; that extra round of painkillers she'd given him have given him a bit of a second wind at this point.

In the end, Jack hears Daniel cut off in the middle of explaining something to Doctor Fraiser, who throws open the door to the dwelling Jack and Carter are currently in, all brilliant fury and strength. Jack can't help but feel a little relieved at seeing her and the two cases she has in her hands.

"Hey there, Doc," he says, putting on a small smile.

Fraiser relaxes minutely at the words before shaking her head. "Any particular reason you always see fit to be the one getting yourself critically injured offworld, sir?" she asks, something like relief in her voice.

Jack feels his grin widen. "Just looking out for my team."

Fraiser rolls her eyes. "Of course, sir." Then she sets to taking her equipment out of her cases, and Jack sets to listening in on Daniel's conversation with the natives. It makes it easier to ignore Janet's increasingly concerned looks as she takes his vitals and runs her tests.

In the end, she gives a sigh that turns Jack's head without a thought.

"Well sir, I can stitch you up, but I think the natives are right; there's nothing our medicine can do against the pathogen without more time for me to study it. If this thing really is as time-sensitive as they're making it out to be, you might be better off with them."

Jack sighs, closing his eyes and leaning back against the bed. "Any idea what the pathogen is going to do?"

"None, sir, though your temperature is slightly elevated, and that's liable to get worse before it gets better. I haven't been able to identify any chemical, genetic, or structural changes, but it might be too early for me to tell, and by the time I find anything…"

"It might already be too late," Jack finishes for her, sighing again. Then he opens his eyes and turns to Carter. "Go have Daniel bring the healer, will you?"

A slight widening of her eyes is the only sign that Carter is surprised by the request. She nods, though, and gets to her feet, heading out the door to grab Daniel.

Daniel's got his arms crossed over his chest and a dark look on his face that leaves Jack uneasy as he follows the healer inside. The healer glances at Fraiser before she takes a few more hesitant steps toward Jack. She glances over her shoulder at Daniel, asking a question that makes Daniel's lips thin.

Jack frowns. "Daniel?"

"She wants to know what Janet found."

"Nothing she didn't already know," Janet says, something like frustration in her tone. "There's not a lot I can do at this point. Not unless she's willing to share her expertise."

Daniel's face shifts immediately, and he turns to the healer, speaking rapidly. Jack doesn't catch the healer's expression, but he hears the relief in Daniel's tone, so she must be amenable. He can't keep from turning his head when he hears her settle down beside the bed. Her eyes are warm and her face open, a counterpoint to what Jack had been expecting given Daniel's interaction with her. The healer smiles, nodding once at Jack before turning to Janet and placing a hand over her heart in a sign of respect.

"She says she'll help," Daniel says, and Jack glances up at the tone in Daniel's voice. "I'll translate as best I can, but she says you'll need to work fast. We don't have much time."

"Do they need me conscious?" Jack asks, feeling the way exhaustion is creeping in at the edges of his vision.

Daniel translates, and the healer shakes her head, speaking to Daniel in turn. "Not for now," Daniel confirms. "She wants to talk to Janet for a bit."

"Sounds good," Jack says, "because I think that's about as much time in the land of the conscious as I can manage right now."

"Go to sleep, sir," Janet says, getting to her feet and nodding at the local healer. "We'll come back once she's briefed me."

Jack's asleep before the door shuts behind them.

——

Jack isn't sure how much time as passed the next time he wakes up, but Janet is in the middle of adjusting her equipment while the healer speaks in low tones when he does. He listens, letting their voices mix with Daniel's as he translates between them, parsing small snatches of understanding through the haze of what must be painkillers.

He must move or make a sound or something, because between one moment and the next, Daniel is at his side, hand on his shoulder. "Jack?"

"I'm good, Daniel. Nothing to worry about."

"Liar," Daniel mutters, and Jack hears him shake his head. "I know Janet stuck to your normal microscopic dose of painkillers even though your back's been shredded." He pauses, and Jack feels his hand shift to ease his fingers through Jack's hair. "You gonna be okay if Janet and M'rotha run some tests?"

"I'll be fine."

"Okay." Then Daniel's off translating again.

Jack tries not to miss the feel of Daniel's hand on his head.

——

After that, time starts to blur. Jack asks Daniel regularly how much time he has left just so he knows, but his internal clock is shot. Carter heads back to Earth at some point, though Jack couldn't pinpoint when if asked. He assumes it was an order, but he doesn't check, too busy answering Janet and M'rotha's questions during his brief stints of consciousness. More than once he loses the thread of what he's saying and has to be prompted by Daniel or Janet to finish his answer. They run countless tests while he's awake, presumably doing more while he's unconscious, and he sees it in Janet's face every time they don't get the results that they want.

He's not sure when he realizes that Janet and M'rotha aren't going to succeed in whatever they're trying to do, but he does. Time is too short and the test results too inconclusive for them to be able to manage whatever they're trying.

So Jack opens his mind to the possibility that he may not be able to continue with the Stargate program anymore. That he may need to leave the lives and safety of Daniel and Carter and Teal'c in the hands of another Air Force officer, and let them go off into the depths of space without him at their back. The thought aches something fierce, and he hears the concern in the voices around him at whatever his vitals are doing in response, but he ignores them in favor of really sitting in the reality of leaving the program.

Eventually, he finds that it doesn't hurt as much as he'd initially thought.

Because even though he's terrified of what might happen to his friends under someone else's command, that's going to happen regardless of whether he lives or dies here. His time as the commanding officer of SG-1 was over the second that beast's claws tore his skin to ribbons, and it's time he accepted that. He may be terrified of what would happen to his team without him leading them, but he's even more terrified of what might happen to them—what _will_ happen to them—if he's dead.

So as Janet and M'rotha and Daniel run around trying to save his career and his life, Jack quietly makes his peace with potentially losing both.

——

"Daniel," Jack says quietly as they near the end of day three. "You're running yourself ragged. Will you just—"

"I will not!" Daniel snaps, cutting Jack off.

Jack blinks. "I didn't even—"

"You were going to tell me to rest, just like Janet has been, just like M'rotha has been. I won't, Jack. Not until I know—"

"Daniel." The quiet word seems to take Daniel by surprise, because he falls silent, eyes wide as they alight on Jack's. "I've made my peace with it. If Fraiser doesn't come up with anything—and let's be honest here, time isn't exactly on her side at this point—then I want you to let them save me."

"Save— Jack, they've made no secret of the fact that their methods could _kill_ you!"

Jack nods. "Maybe. Maybe not. I'm dead no matter what if we don't let them do something."

Daniel's eyes narrow, and Jack can see him trying to come up with a counterargument, but he's sleep deprived, and Jack feels rather confident in his victory.

"Let them, Daniel. Please. Let them."

~~~~~

When Daniel comes in the next morning, Jack is completely unresponsive.

——

In hindsight, Daniel realizes it must have been his own desperate screams that had roused Doctor Fraiser and Healer M'rotha. Janet had gotten there first, and immediately tried to disengage Daniel from Jack. Given his exhaustion, he's not surprised she manages it, though he knows he put up a hell of a fight, thrashing in her arms while M'rotha checked Jack's vitals, already well accustomed to the Earth technology.

M'rotha turns to Fraiser, seriousness in her eyes that stills Daniel's motions more effectively than any words could have. " _We have little time, Healer,_ " she says in her own language, trusting Daniel to translate. " _His transformation begins._ "

Janet releases Daniel instantly, taking up her post on Jack's other side. "I understand. What do you need me to—"

"No," Daniel says firmly, repeating himself in both languages to make himself clear, and doing so without translating Janet's words. " _You will not touch him,_ " he adds, turning to M'rotha.

M'rotha's face splits briefly with shock and surprise before she schools her features. " _Then you condemn him to death, Daniel Jackson._ "

" _So be it. I will not let you—_ "

"Dammit, Daniel, I can't save him! Okay? I can't save him." Daniel turns to look at Fraiser, taking in the desperation in her expression. "If you want to give him even the slightest chance of survival, you have to trust M'rotha!"

Daniel frowns. "Do you?"

Janet blinks. "Do I what?"

"Trust M'rotha?"

Janet shakes her head, laughing incredulously. "What I think doesn't matter, Daniel, you know as well as I do that legally—"

"I have the right to decide should Jack be incapacitated," Daniel says softly. He can feel his mind peeling away at the edges, his soul fraying at the seams, and he knows what this is, knows what is happening to him, but right now there are more important things to worry about. "But we also both know I'm in no position to make any decisions. So. Do you trust M'rotha?"

Janet pauses, glancing at the healer before turning back to Daniel. "I trust her with Jack's life, Daniel. Knowing what that means to you, yes, I trust her with Jack's life."

Daniel draws a deep breath before nodding. "Then so be it." He settles down on the edge of the room, turning to look at M'rotha. " _What do you need her to do?_ "

——

When M'rotha tells him the ritual will take a solid day and a half to complete, Daniel almost changes his mind right then and there. But Jack had asked Daniel to save his life, and if this really is their only chance, then he has to take it.

M'rotha allows Daniel help as much as she can, but eventually she steps between Daniel and the room that had been prepared for the ritual. " _I am sorry, Daniel Jackson. But your help ends here. You must allow me to complete the ritual if I am to save Jack O'Neill._ "

 _Colonel O'Neill_ , Daniel almost corrects, but he knows he's never shown any particular reverence for Jack's rank, and it seems inauthentic to do so now. So he swallows down the words and nods. " _Please, M'rotha. Please save him._ "

M'rotha inclines her head before turning away from Daniel, letting the two guards stationed outside keep him at bay. It doesn't matter; Daniel isn't about to get in their way. He also isn't about to follow General Hammond's not so thinly veiled order to come back to Earth with Janet. He's sticking this out until he knows whether Jack is dead or alive, and nothing can get him back to Earth at this point save that knowledge.

The other natives are perfectly content to let Daniel move through them while M'rotha works to heal Jack. It ends up being a blessing, as the sounds coming from the temple where the healing is taking place are terrible enough that more than once one of the natives has to hold Daniel back from racing to Jack's side. But in the end, the time passes, and M'rotha summons Daniel to the temple.

Daniel doesn't think he's even moved that fast.

When he makes it up to the temple, however, there's a moment outside the door to Jack's room where Daniel doesn't know if he's going to have the strength to walk through the door. Where the fear of what he might find is enough to hold him back.

Then he hears the sound of Jack grumbling about what's taking him so long and the relief is enough to move him.

The room is poorly lit, but before Daniel has a chance to ask why, Jack turns to him and Daniel sees the answer. Jack's pupils are slitted and catlike as he stares back at Daniel, and it leaves an ache in Daniel's chest that Jack apparently didn't come through unscathed. Daniel swallows, turning to M'rotha. " _How bad was it?_ "

M'rotha smiles. " _Much better than expected, Daniel Jackson. Only his eyes and teeth are adversely affected. There were much fewer structural changes than anticipated. Jack O'Neill is a strong man. You should be proud._ "

Daniel looks away, staring at Jack, who's frowning at him. "I don't what what she said, but there's definitely _something_ wrong with my eyes," he mutters.

Daniel laughs, a little breathlessly. "You have K'thala eyes now, Jack," he says, unsure how this will make Jack feel. "If they're anything like cat eyes, which by all accounts they seem to be, your night vision's going to be a hell of a lot better now."

Jack hums. "I can tell. Can't see color for shit, though."

Daniel frowns. "What?"

Jack waves him off. "Any other side effects I should be worried about?"

"Um," Daniel starts, jarred by the shift in focus, "she said something about your teeth…"

Jack nods. "Yeah, caught that too. Canines are sharper than I'm used to. Anything else?"

"No. At least, not that she noticed."

Jack blinks. "Huh. So, better than expected, then."

"I guess."

"Good," Jack says, sounding like he means it. "Well then, do your diplomat thing and let's get back home, yeah?"

Daniel stares at Jack, confusion on his face. "That's… that's it?"

Jack frowns. "What do you mean?"

"I mean no kicking or screaming, no arguing about how you want to get back to work?"

Jack's face softens. "I'm alive, Daniel. That's better than I was expecting, honestly."

"What?"

"I'm old, Daniel. I'm old and my body's pretty damn busted. A lifetime in the service'll do that to a guy. But I'm alive and I get to go home and spend the rest of my life with the people that matter the most to me. That's better than I was expecting."

Daniel stares at Jack for a long time, trying to parse his words. Then, slowly, he feels a smile creep over his face. "Do my diplomat thing, huh?"

Jack grins. "And get us home."

Daniel nods. He's not sure about the rest of it, or where Jack's life is going to go from here (to say nothing of Daniel's own; he's not sure he's going to be able to trust anyone other than Jack to watch his back up in space), but this, at least, he can do.

They're going home. Both of them. And that's more than anyone expected a week ago. Daniel thinks he can take that victory.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. Part of my Round Eight H/C Bingo Card. Title from a Robert B. Leighton quote. [Come hang with me on tumblr!](http://hollyandvice.tumblr.com/)


End file.
